Now at Villa Park, Sherwood showed that willingness to blood young players remains, after he named 16-year-old Rushian Hepburn-Murphy on the substitutes’ bench for the Premier League match against Sunderland.
For those Villa fans eager to know more about him, here are five facts to get you started:
1) Hepburn-Murphy was born in September 1998 – that is after the World Cup in France which shows just how young Villa’s latest talent is!
2) The teenager is a centre-forward who has played three times for the club’s under-21 side to date, racking up 97 minutes on the pitch but yet to score a goal.
3) The Villa youngster has represented England’s under-16 side on four occasions, making his debut in November 2013.
4) Hepburn-Murphy recently impressed for Villa in the Wiesbadener Liliencup – an under-17 tournament played at the start of the year. The forward was the competition’s joint-top scorer with five goals, including a hat-trick against Rapid Vienna.
5) The teenager is a local lad who has come through the ranks at the club and given his talent there is no reason to suggest he will not ultimately be a very effective option for Sherwood in time.
